Kane, Sharp have little success vs. Kings

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty celebrates his goal against the Chicago Blackhawks during the third period of Game 3 of the Western Conference finals of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs in Los Angeles, Saturday, May 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
The Associated Press

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty celebrates his goal against the Chicago Blackhawks during the third period of Game 3 of the Western Conference finals of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs in Los Angeles, Saturday, May 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

LOS ANGELES  Late in the evening on May 13, Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane found a loose puck as he came in from the right of the net. Patrick Sharp skated in from the left as Kane scooped the puck on his stick and put it high past Minnesota Wild goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.

Kane’s overtime goal clinched the conference semifinal series victory. It gave him six goals to that point in the playoffs.

But in the ensuing two weeks, the Los Angeles Kings have silenced Kane offensively.

Entering today’s Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, which the Kings lead 2-1, Kane has zero points and just seven shots.

“We know that Kane likes to pick up the puck and kind of be fancy, dangle his way around and gain speed that way,” Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. “We are just trying to limit the ice for him and play him hard.”

The Kings have limited Sharp offensively, too. Sharp’s only points came Saturday when he scored with 4.2 seconds left to cut the Kings’ lead from two goals to one.

“Even though they haven’t done much lately, we know they’ll have their best game in Game 4, and we got to be prepared for that,” Doughty said of Kane and Sharp.

Penalty problem

Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith expressed displeasure with the penalties by his team in Saturday’s 4-3 loss. Chicago committed three penalties in Game 3 that led to two Kings goals.

“We have to stay out of the box, and it’s frustrating,” Keith said. “We’ve talked about it. They’re just penalties we can’t take.”

The Kings scored on a power play in the first period. In the third period, Los Angeles scored off a faceoff with the faceoff taking place during a power play and the goal coming seconds after the power play ended.

Chicago’s penalties Saturday were for concealing the puck, hooking and high sticking.

The number of penalties does not bother Chicago coach Joel Quenneville as much as his team’s struggle to score when the Kings are a man short. The Blackhawks have not capitalized on their last six power-play opportunities spanning the last two games.

“Our power play, tonight, really didn’t help us,” Quenneville said Saturday. “I thought that was the difference in the game, losing some momentum. … We not only didn’t generate much, but we lost some momentum off those power plays.”

The rarity of power-play opportunities in the playoffs makes capitalizing on them even more important.

“Power-play goals are huge,” Doughty said Saturday. “You don’t get many in the playoffs. They call it pretty tight. I thought the power play stepped up tonight, and PK (penalty kill) was great as well.”

That 70s story

The Kings line of Jeff Carter, Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli has been dubbed the 70s line since the trio wear numbers 77, 70 and 73, respectively.

How did they end up with such numbers?

“I didn’t choose it. I got it given to me,” said Pearson, who is in his first full season with the Kings.

Toffoli has worn No. 73 since his days with the New Hampshire-based Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League.

Carter wore No. 7 with the Columbus Blue Jackets before joining the Kings in 2011-12. Veteran defenseman Rob Scuderi already wore No. 7 when Carter arrived, so Carter did the next best thing.